Client Report :: Ohio Guest Room

I'm working with a new client who also happens to be one of my besties.  My sweet friend Liz.  We met when we lived together in college.  No literally, we met the day we were moving in to share a bedroom.  It was pure madness in the best way.  We were roommates on and off for years and actually, she's the reason I moved to LA in the first place. Wow. I forgot about that.

Aaaanyways... Let me get back on track here.

After living in LA for many years, Liz (along with her husband and their 2 boys) moved to a small town in Ohio, just outside of Dayton.  They had a home built there a few years back; it's a big one and on a bit of land.

I visited her recently and because I just can't help myself (forgive me...I have a sickness), I talked about my decor ideas for her home.  All that talking lead to hours of creative brainstorming and now I'm super excited because she's hired me to design one of their guest rooms.  Eventually, when time and budget allow for it, I'm hoping to take on some other spaces in their house too.  It really is a beautiful home; it's big though and needs more "stuff" in it.  It's weird hearing myself say that because I am not one at all for cluttered spaces.  But the house just feels too empty to me; I feel like it needs more layers...more "stuff"!

You want a house to feel lived in.  Like it's been decorated over time with all the nooks and crannies filled with memories.  Take a minute to look around your house.  If your walls could talk, would there be stories to tell?

Case in point...  Here is the guest room I'm working with.  Again, it's really quite spacious.  At the moment it just looks a bit empty though.

Now, if you know Liz, you know that girl loves the beach and the sunshine.  So moving from LA to Ohio has been quite an adjustment for her.  Every winter I get the call...well, multiple calls actually. :) "I just can't do it anymore...  It's so dark...  It won't stop raining..."  It's like clockwork.  And trust me; I totally get it.  Those winters are long and everyone has their breaking point.  So I really want to keep that in mind when I'm decorating this room for her.  Even though it's the guest room, she's calling it "her" room and I intend to make it a light, bright and happy place.  Her escape from the gloomy winter  days...

I took these photos while I was visiting a few weeks ago.



You see.  It looks empty, right?  And although, they're obviously not afraid of color in their home, the tones in this room are somewhat muted and make the space feel dark.
Not for long though, darlings.  Operation: Let the Sun Shine In is underway!  We are going to fill the space with a little more furniture and then layer, layer, layer.  And of course, we are going to make it lighter and brighter so that it feels airy, relaxing and cheerful all at the same time! 
Expect it to feel a little something like this (But don't hold me to any specifics, k? This plan is evolving as we speak!)...

Hello, pretty Michelle Armas print; thank you for being so colorful & fabulous and for being our jumping off point in this design plan.  Now as is true for most people decorating their homes out there, we can't just run out and buy all new furniture.  To stay on budget, we're going to use some of the existing pieces in the room and we'll be pulling furniture from other parts of the house too.
We'll keep the bed frame and use the shabby yellow chest of drawers.  Those chairs, we're bringing upstairs from the living room, and their burnt orange color is going to pop beautifully against our light and bright aqua walls.  The plan is to scour Craigslist for end tables and paint them a fantastic turquoise; we're still looking for lamps too but the black and white looks great with our design, don't you think?  The desk is quite similar to West Elm's parson series and I plan to put it on the wall where the yellow dresser is currently (see in the photo above).  It'll fill that space nicely and it'll be a great place for visitors to get some work done if necessary.
Of course we still need a desk chair, more art & accessories but I think we're off to a great start. The LA and Hermosa beach photos are a favorite of Liz and mine; I'll be sure to tell you more about the artist soon.  More photos, sources and links as this plan comes together...
I'm in shopping mode now and in the coming weeks/month I'll be heading back to Ohio for installation.  After pics coming then!